


The Protector

by timelxrd-victorious (Brambleshadow_of_WindClan)



Series: The Time Lord Victorious [8]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dark Doctor (Doctor Who), Gen, Tumblr Roleplay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-09-18 02:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9362207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan/pseuds/timelxrd-victorious
Summary: [Co-written withThe Doctor's Charlene]The Doctor runs into a woman named Charlene Tyler who claims to be his current companion. Trouble is, he's never seen her before and has no recollection of her traveling with him.But since she's trapped in his universe until the walls between universes open up again and she can go back home, it seems as though he's stuck with her.





	1. not what it seems

**Author's Note:**

> Charlene Tyler is an OC from The Doctor's Charlene fanfiction series [Charlene, Charlene Who](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9283929/1/Charlene-Charlene-Who) over on FF.net. Said mun also roleplays her on Tumblr [here](http://charlenetyler-theprotector.tumblr.com/). If you're unfamiliar with her, here's the basics:
>
>> Charlene used to be from our world but she suddenly gets sent to the Doctor Who after she falls asleep while watching the first episode of New Who. She wakes up and finds herself as the sister of Rose Tyler and she ends up traveling with the Doctor, unaware of the secret that her life in the Doctor Who world held. 
>> 
>> Eventually she loses her memory of the show and goes through the second season of the show, not knowing about her life in our world. But she does learn that Jackie Tyler adopted her and Jackie gives her a pocket watch which eventually she learns from the Doctor is that it’s a fob watch and holds her memories of being a Time Lady. She finally opens it and gets her memories back, but because of this she regenerated.
>> 
>> Now she travels with the Doctor, who she’s now in a romantic relationship in, and Martha Jones and unfortunately she still has no memory of our world.  
> —from here: [x](http://charlenetyler-theprotector.tumblr.com/aboutcharlene)  
> 
> 
> This Doctor is, obviously, _not_ Teine (my muse).
> 
> Like other, longer stories in this 'verse and its spin-offs, this is based on a Tumblr RP.

“Doctor! What’s the matter with you?!”

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” he snarled instantly before whirling around to face the source of the voice. Then he frowned, backed away as he came face to face with a blonde woman. “How do you know me? Cos I don’t know you.”

Charlene’s anger faded at his question and she looked at him, startled. “What are you talking about? Of course you do. It’s Charlene.” She slowly stepped closer to him, her eyes peering into his.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. “I’d remember meeting you or traveling with you, and I don’t. So: _Who are you_ to me?”

He didn’t know who she was and that broke her hearts.

“I’m Charlene Tyler, your companion.” Charlene answered quietly. If he didn’t know her, she couldn’t say anything more than that.

He barked out a laugh, but there was no humor in it. “Yeah, the last time I met someone who knew me and I had no idea who they were, she ended up killing herself to save me without even giving me a straight answer as to who she was. The only thing she would say was ‘Spoilers’ and that she was very important to my future self. She also knew my name. Still don’t know how she could ever have found that out.” The Doctor stopped, studied Charlene for a long moment. “You’re not planning on doing that are you? Dying, I mean.”

Charlene couldn’t help it. She laughed. “No, I’m definitely not planning on dying…” she told him. “Could happen though…but I would just regenerate anyway.” The last sentence slipped out of her mouth without really thinking about it.

He just stared at her for a long moment. “…What,” he said flatly.

Charlene stiffened, realizing what she said. “Err…nothing…” she offered weakly.

“No. That wasn’t _nothing_.” He stepped closer—too close—and stopped when he sensed… _something_ in the back of his mind. “You’re a Time Lady,” he realized, taking a step back before moving to his right—circling around her. “How? How did you—?” _Survive the Time War_ , he wanted to say, but the words died before he could say them.

He didn’t have to say it. She knew what she meant. “I don’t know…” Charlene admitted softly. “I don’t remember much about how I survived. All I remember is a man. I didn’t know who he was, but he knew who I was. I think he had something to do with it. I didn’t know that I was a Time Lady until much later…I thought that I was just a human and I grew up with Jackie and Rose Tyler…”

Dark brown eyes hardened, flashed with cold fury. “That’s funny, because I _don’t_ remember you being around when I was traveling with Rose. Even if you’d used a Chameleon Arch to turn yourself human, I would have seen you around the Powell Estate.”

“Well, I’m not lying if that’s what you’re thinking.” Charlene said, shaking her head a bit. “I’m not. I did grow up with them. I have no idea what’s going on just like you don’t…”

The Doctor had continued his slow circle around her, his movements silent, almost predatory. “Which leaves us with two options. Either my memories or yours have been tampered with—and I _hate_ it when people mess with my mind—or you’re from an alternate timeline that somehow crossed into mine. Which is it, do you think?” He was in front of her now, standing still, and studying her with his head slightly tilted to the right and his arms folded over his chest.

Charlene shifted on her feet nervously at the way he was staring at her. It was so unlike the way her Doctor stared at her. There was no love in his gaze whatsoever. So it must be the second one.

“I think it’s the second because it makes the most sense,” she finally responded, meeting his gaze head on. “And because you don’t look at me the same way…”

“And what way would that be? An acquaintance? Companion? Friend?” His gaze sharpened. “Or something more… like a lover?”

Charlene flinched when his gaze hardened and she didn’t respond as she glanced away from him.

“Well? Which is it?” He reached out, lightly gripped her chin, and turned her head to face him.

Her heart skipped a beat and she licked her lips.  “The last one…” she breathed.

“Hmmm.” The Doctor gave her a quick once-over, then released her and stepped back. Something close to amusement glinted in his eyes, then was gone. “Well, whatever you may think, I am _not_ your Doctor. Do you think you’ll be able to remember that?”

“Obviously…” Charlene said rather bluntly. It wouldn’t be hard to remember that. Him looking at her the way that he was made sure of that.

“Now that that’s settled… What made you think something was wrong with me?”

“You’re nothing like my Doctor…” she replied softly. “That’s why.”

“Am I? Good. I wouldn’t want to be.”

“And why’s that?” Charlene wondered out loud.

The Doctor smiled, shook his head. “No. I’m not going to make it that easy for you. You want to find out, do it yourself. But while we’re on the subject… what was your Doctor like?”

She didn’t know if she _wanted_ to find out. “Kind, energetic, wouldn’t shut up to save his life.” She chuckled softly. “And so many other wonderful things…”

“And if I told you I was like that once? And it was all a façade? Do you have _any idea_ what I went through in my previous regenerations?” the Doctor snapped

Even as he spoke, he could feel part of his mind trying to reach out to hers. The reflex link connected a Time Lord with the hive-mind of Gallifreyan society and the thousands of Time Lord intelligentsia, could link them to the Matrix. As a renegade, even before Gallifrey was destroyed in the War, he had been denied access to the Matrix almost as often as he’d been granted it. And now that Gallifrey was gone along with the Time Lords and the Matrix…

Immortality had been a _lifestyle_ , not a choice. And now that there was no more Matrix, no more backup biodata… when he ran out of regenerations that would be it.

Except… His eyes narrowed as he looked at Charlene, an idea forming in his mind. How many regenerations did she have left? Would it be possible for him to—?

Abruptly he cut off the thought in case she was listening in, though he doubted she knew much about her own physiology or Time Lord society in general, let alone the Time War and why he’d been forced to end it. Of course, that all depended on what her Doctor had told her. Even so… it had taken him years at the Academy to learn what he did now. It was more than likely she hadn’t had that opportunity.

Charlene’s gaze softened. “You’ve told me about Gallifrey if that’s what you’re talking about…” she said quietly. She did, in fact, feel his mind trying to connect with hers but she didn’t let him.

He shook his head, closed off the reflex link. “I’m not just talking about Gallifrey and the Time War. If you’ve met any of my previous incarnations…” The Doctor let his voice trail away. “Anyway. How did you get here in the first place?”

That was a good question.

“I have no idea,” she admitted after a moment.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at that; scoffed and turned his head away from her. “That’s not an answer. What were you doing when you got pulled into my timeline?”

“I told you, I don’t know. All I remember is being with my Doctor one minute, then I found myself, here with you.” Her voice sounded a bit frustrated. It was frustrating not knowing how she got here in the first place.

“Some help you are,” he muttered sardonically. “Where were you? In the TARDIS? Outside on some planet? What? There wasn’t a bright white light or anything, was there?”

“I was in the TARDIS…I know that for sure…” She tried to think if there had been a white light and now that he mentioned it, there was. “Actually, yeah, there was a white light…”

“Okay, so that means one of two choices: a transmat beam, or… No. Maybe? Yes!” Excited now, he spun in a circle on his heel, one hand held palm out in front of him after raking through his already messy hair.

Well, his enthusiasm when he figured things out hadn’t changed.

“What?” she asked.

“You were pulled from your timeline into mine, yeah?” The Doctor didn’t wait for an affirmative. “Think about it. It’s not the first occasion I’ve met someone who fell through Time—or even a crack in Time. It’s how Dalek Caan entered the Time War and saved Davros from the Nightmare Child at the very last possible second, never mind the fact I was there and saw Davros’s ship fly into its jaws.” He paused for a second, considering. “You haven’t run into any blokes in fancy dress and skulls for masks, have you?”

“No…” She frowned. “At least…I don’t think I have.”

“Good. Keep it that way. But if you do, run like bloody hell.” He smiled crookedly, wiggled his fingers in a spooky manner. “Faction Paradox—they’re a family affair.” The Doctor shrugged, stuck his hands in his pockets. “Y’know—‘Bloodline to bloodline, in constant transition. Our pattern, our flesh, and our one restoration. Conception, completion, the will of the city. The Grandfather watch me. The Grandfather know me. Grandfather watch me. Spirits maintain me.’ Renegade time-travelling voodoo cult and all that.” 

Charlene just blinked at him. “Right…” she said slowly.

He dropped all pretense of fooling around, eyed her seriously. “I’m dead serious. I’ve encountered them before, and they’d just _love_ to get their hands on a Time Lady like you. The Faction recruits from all sorts of lesser races, but they were originally a House on Gallifrey. Their founder was Grandfather Paradox—and you don’t want to meet him, never mind the fact he hasn’t existed for over two hundred years. They’ve also got a biodata virus—and it’s a right nasty piece of work. It latches onto your biodata, fucks everything up, and forces you to become a servant of Paradox _before_ you ever contracted it.” His smile then was more like a quick baring of teeth. “He’s never mentioned them to you, has he?”

She was quiet for a moment. “No…never mentioned them before.” Then she shook her head. “I’m sure there was a reason why he never told me…”

“Sure—like maybe you don’t know him as well as you thought.” There was another flash of teeth; his gaze turned predatory. “Don’t tell me that never occurred to you. Did you think you were different just because you’re one of our own kind?”

Charlene flinched. “No, of course not…” she muttered. “Besides, I wasn’t always a Time Lady.”

He raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “Yeah, neither was I. Nor was Rassilon or the Master or Romana. We had to earn that title. That being said, my eighth incarnation once claimed to be half-human, and I _have_ used the Chameleon Arch to turn human a couple times—but those were under extreme circumstances.”

“Yeah I know…” Charlene said as she met his eyes. “I have too…but I don’t remember how or why.”

The Doctor shrugged. “It’s not important now, anyway. Well, not to me. It could be important to you. Just wait. The memories will come back eventually. Trying to push for them could only make it worse.”

He turned away from her, started to walk off. “Later, ta.”

“Hey, wait!” Charlene called, following after him. “You can’t just leave me here!” He might not be her Doctor, but she had nowhere else to go, so she only had one choice. Stay with him. Maybe he could help her get back to her timeline.

“Try me,” he snapped, not bothering to look back over his shoulder at her. “Just cos you’re a Time Lady doesn’t mean I have to help you out.”

“Come on, please!” Charlene maneuvered herself in front of him, stopping him in place by putting her hands on his chest. She looked at him pleadingly with her brown eyes that looked so much like Rose’s. “You’re the only one who can help me, please Doctor.” 

Cold dark-brown eyes flicked down to where her hands were resting over his hearts; he stepped back, eyes hard as obsidian. “If you’re looking for a pity shag, go find someone else. And if you’re not… Sorry, but I can’t help you.” The Doctor stepped around her and continued on his way back to where he’d left his ship. “Until the walls between universes open up again, you’re stuck here. Besides… I don’t do the saving-planets thing anymore.”

Charlene was stubborn though and continued to follow him. “I’m not asking you to save a planet, and you don’t have to help me get back, just let me stay with you,” she persisted. “Until those walls open up, _please_.”

“I don’t do the saving lives gig either.” The Doctor stopped when his TARDIS came into view, considered his options, and sighed in exasperation through his nose. It was obvious she wouldn’t stop following him around even if he told her to leave, so he might as well let her come with him. “Fine. But only until then and you’re going straight back home, got it?”

Charlene sighed to herself in relief. “Thank you!”

On instinct, she stepped towards the TARDIS and went to open the doors. Once her hands touched the surface, Charlene felt a chill. This definitely didn’t feel like the TARDIS she knew, which shouldn’t have surprised her but it did.

The Doctor entered just after her, shut the doors behind him, and shrugged off his brown coat, tossed it over one of the coral struts.

“Now, don’t go getting any ideas,” he started as he made his way around the console. “I’m not even looking for a companion in the first place—and _try_ not to fall for me, all right? I’ve had enough of that from past companions as it is.”

Charlene slowly followed after him. She could do the not falling part, as long as she kept the mindset that this wasn’t the man she loved, not by a long shot.

“I promise,” she said to him. “No falling.”

He gave her a long, measuring look over the console. “Good. Make sure you don’t. Now…” He turned dials, knobs, pushed buttons, and finally pulled the lever. The central column glowed, started to move up and down as the familiar wheezing and grinding noises of the TARDIS’s engines filled the air and they vanished into the Vortex.

“…Next stop, everywhere.”


	2. your true colors show a dangerous sign

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding the Doctor's gender: Xe's canonically nonbinary (by both human and Gallifreyan standards). Teine specifically doesn't mind using male pronouns, but whenever xe's feeling very much Not Male, xe'll use xe/xem/xir as xir pronoun set. So... misgendering cw, I guess.
> 
> Chapter title comes from Within Temptation's "A Dangerous Mind".

“Stay the night. Please.”

The Doctor paused in the doorway, glanced back over xir shoulder at Charlene. “Why should I?”

Charlene pulled the covers close to her as she stared at him. “Just please…” she whispered. She knew that he wasn’t her Doctor, but she needed someone to hold her as she was so used to sleeping in her Doctor’s arms.

Xe stood there for a long moment, debating silently. Then xe sighed and turned back to face her, leaned against the doorframe. “Fine. But only until you fall asleep. And don’t try anything.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Doc.” Charlene smirked at him.

“Yeah, right,” xe muttered sarcastically, shoving off the wall and joining her at the side of the bed. Xe sat down on top of the covers, kicked off xir converse; and then reclined on top of the duvet, xir hands laced behind xir head.

“What? It’s true,” she protested with a grin as she turned on her side and leaned on her hand, propping her head up with it. Then she stared at him, taking every inch of him in. His body was stiff on the bed and he wasn’t looking at her but she knew that he knew she was watching him. Charlene could tell he didn’t want to be here with her. This made her sigh sadly to herself. He was so unlike her Doctor. He was darker than him and he had been through so much. It showed in his eyes and on his face.

“I’m just staying until you fall asleep,” xe reminded her, rolling onto xir side away from her. Xe could feel her gaze boring into xem, studying every inch of xir body—and it made xem uncomfortable. Normally xe wouldn’t have minded the attention, but with her…

She’d been traveling with an alternate version of xem, xe knew, and that they’d been lovers. Not that xe was entirely opposed to the idea—she was rather pretty—but xe didn’t want her to form the wrong impression. Though they may have looked alike, xe was nothing like her Doctor. And xe didn’t want to be. 

Xe still called xemself the Doctor, but that part of xem was buried so deep that if anyone had tried to reach it xe would have sliced and diced them a hundred or so different ways before they were even close… and then had them for lunch. Or dinner. Maybe a snack, or possibly breakfast. A faint smile formed on xir lips at the thought. 

“Yeah…I know…” Charlene mumbled with an internal sigh when he turned away from her and she turned away from him, laying on her back as she stared up at the ceiling.

Still, as xe lay there in the dark, xe couldn’t help wondering… “This other me, what was he like?”

This made her turn and look at him. Instead of answering, she asked quietly, “Why do you want to know?”

“No reason.” Xe rolled over onto xir back. “Just… curious, I guess.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment. “Well…” she finally said as her eyes flickered back up to the ceiling while she thought of her Doctor and told him about him, “He was kind, brilliant, funny…always excited about new adventures…he doesn’t like killing..even the sight of a gun makes him mad…and he…loved me…” Her eyes grew misty. “And I loved him. So much…” 

“I still don’t like guns. Hate ‘em. They make violence and death too easy. I prefer knives, but I can improvise if I have to.” The Doctor glanced over at her. “Earlier on in this incarnation, I’d kill only as a last resort, after giving them a chance. When they didn’t take it… Well, let’s just say some of my enemies  _ wish _ that they were dead.”

Charlene smiled faintly. “My Doctor is still like that…” she said. “He always gives them a second chance…even if they didn’t deserve it…sometimes I think he’s crazy for giving it to them…” She laughed a little, wiping her eyes with one of her hands. 

There was that faint smile again. “Sometimes, I think I was too. And you misunderstand me. Death would have been kind compared to what I did to them when they refused my offer.”

Charlene flinched, knowing what he meant by that. He would kill them, make sure that they weren’t  _ alive _ anymore.

“Oh, no, they’re still alive,” xe said, noticing her reaction. “They’re just trapped in their own internal hell—and even if they feel as though they must, they can’t scream.” Xe paused, then added, “You are familiar with the short story ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,’ yes? Then the ending should give you a pretty good idea.”

She didn’t respond, pulling the covers closer to her. Of course she was familiar with that story. Now, she was wondering something…

“Why are you like this?” Charlene asked him, staring at him again. “What changed?”

The Doctor barked out a humorless laugh. “It’s a long story. And it’s not a happy one.”

“Tell me.” She didn’t hesitate in saying this. She _ wanted  _ to know.

Xe glanced away, thinking how to phrase xir answer, then met her gaze. “I was supposed to die a long time ago.”

Her eyes widened a bit. “Oh…” Then she paused for a bit, figuring out what happened. “And you ran away from it…” she said quietly.

“Yeah,” xe said matter-of-factly. “And I’m still running. There was a prophecy. ‘Your song is ending, sir. It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then… oh, but then… He will knock four times.’  To make a long story short, I altered a fixed point on Mars, the Master came back, turned the human race into copies of himself, and broke Gallifrey and our insane Lord President Rassilon out of the time-lock on the last day of the Time War.  I managed to reverse it and send them all back, but my pseudo-companion Wilf had gotten himself stuck in a radiation chamber.” The Doctor’s lips thinned into a hard line; xir eyes turned cold. “That’s when he started knocking. One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four. And I… I”—xir lips twitched in what might have been a smile—”I left him there to die.“

Charlene just listened to him as he spoke, then she frowned deeply when he mentioned that he left someone to die. She wasn’t judging him though. Not really. She probably should be, but she couldn’t. Not to him.

Xe noticed her silence, and raised an eyebrow, a sly look edging into xir eyes. “What, nothing? No lecture or anything?”

“Well, what do you want me to say?” she asked, keeping her gaze on his. “That it was wrong for you to do that? Of course it was, but I won’t lecture you about it because it won’t do any good anyway. You ran because you were scared. Anyone would be scared if they were in the same position as you.”

Xir eyes suddenly clouded over. “Whatever,” the Doctor muttered, rolling over onto xir side. “I don’t even know why I told you. Just go to sleep, all right?”

_ Besides, _ xe added silently, _ the sooner you fall asleep, the sooner I can leave. _

Charlene turned away from him as well. “Fine,” she agreed. “But you know I’m right.”

Xe said nothing and just lay there, waiting for the sound of her breathing to slow and deepen—a sign that she was in the second or third stage of the sleep cycle. When xe felt certain that Charlene was asleep, the Doctor rolled out of bed and—after grabbing xir sneakers—padded across the floor to the doorway and out into the hall. Xe carefully shut the door behind xem, then glanced down both ends of the corridor.

_ Where to now? _ xe thought.

As soon as the doors closed, Charlene opened her eyes. She had only been pretending to be asleep. After their conversation, she wasn’t really all that tired. 

To be honest, she didn’t even know why she had asked him to stay with her. But she did learn more about this Doctor, so she was glad that he did.

Sighing to herself, she stayed in bed, deciding to wait until the Doctor was gone before getting up out of bed herself.

The Time Lord started to head for the library, then stopped and glanced behind xem when xe thought xe heard the door to Charlene’s room open. Nothing. With a shrug, xe turned back and continued on xir way.

Slowly, Charlene followed behind him as she watched his back, her arms sliding behind her back.

The Doctor walked slowly down the hallway, listening intently. Was it xir imagination, or was there a second pair of footsteps?

Xe walked down the twisting corridors to the TARDIS library, then stopped in the doorway. Yes, there  _ had _ been a second pair of foosteps following xem.

“You know,” xe said in a quiet voice that somehow managed to carry down the hallway, “if you wanted to come with me you could have just asked.”

When she heard him, Charlene stopped and had the decency to look sheepish. “Right, well, I thought you would say no…” she admitted, loud enough where he could hear her.

The Doctor thought about it for a few seconds before admitting, “Probably. Still, you should’ve asked. I don’t take kindly to being followed around without my knowledge, Charlene.” It wasn’t exactly a warning, but it wasn’t exactly a threat either. If anything, it was a hidden mixture of both and said in a soft tone that did little to hide the faint edge to xir words.

Charlene winced as she fell into step with him. “You’re right…I’m sorry…” she apologized, unconsciously touching his arm.

Xe allowed her touch to linger for a few seconds before surreptitiously shaking off her hand. “It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.” So saying, the Doctor pushed open the door to the library and walked inside, heading for a shelf with works by Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, etc. Xe pulled out a copy of  _ And Then There Were None _ and settled down in an armchair to read.

Charlene went inside the library as well but stayed standing as she watched him as he read. This wasn’t uncommon with her Doctor. She would always watch him read and he would sometimes read to her as they cuddled on the couch together.

The Doctor noticed her watching xem and raised an eyebrow. “Well? There’s plenty of books if you want to find something for yourself. Or were you content just to stand there watching me read?”

“Content with watching…” Charlene said with a grin as she moved towards him. “Used to do it all the time with my Doctor.”

“Well, don’t,” xe said tartly. “It’s only slightly creepy. Unless…” Xe smirked slightly. “Watching him read isn’t  _ all  _ you did.”

Knowing the hidden meaning behind what he said, Charlene rolled her eyes and sat beside him on the couch, legs crossed and hands in her lap. “Not really any of your business, is it?”

The Doctor shrugged and returned xir attention to xir book. “Not really, no. What else would the two of you do?”

“Travel mostly,” she answered, leaning back against the couch as she relaxed beside him.  

Xe smiled faintly. “I do that, too, you know. I usually end up making quite a few enemies along the way, but they have a tendency not to live too long after meeting me.”

It was still strange to hear  him say things like that so freely and Charlene knew that she would never get used to it.

Xe noticed the disconcerted expression on her face, and xir smile faded. “It bothers you, doesn’t it? That I’m not like him.”

Charlene didn’t say anything for a moment. “Yes…” she admitted.

Xe closed xir book and set it aside, knowing xe wouldn’t be able to concentrate on it now. “Then why do you stay?”

She honestly didn’t know the real reason why she stayed. The only reason she could come up with was this. “Because you need me…even if you don’t want to admit it.”

“I don’t need anyone.”  It came out easily, almost automatically. Xe’d gotten so used to saying those words that now it was almost a reflex–second nature. And xe’d said them so many times that xe’d started to believe it.

“That’s a lie and you know it. Everyone needs someone and you’re not an exception. Even if you are a Time Lord.”

Xe raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Surely that’s not the only reason you’re staying.”

“That’s the only reason I could come up with…” Charlene sighed. “I don’t know really why I stay…I shouldn’t. Not with this version of you. You don’t love me…”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

Charlene flinched. That hurt a lot more than she thought it would even though she knew it was true.

The Doctor noticed her flinch, couldn’t help smirking slightly. “What? Does hearing the truth hurt? Sorry to break it to you, but I don’t love you in the same way he did. If he ever loved you in that way at all.”

This made her snap and she glared at him heatedly. “What’s that supposed to mean?! Of course he loved me…how dare you?!”

The smirk was gone; xir own eyes were cold, nearly dead. “Did he ever tell you that he loved you?”

She was still glaring at him. “Yes. He did.”

Xe scoffed, glanced away. “Then he’s a fool.”

“My Doctor may be many things, but a fool isn’t one of them.” Her lips pursed together angrily.

“Oh? And what is he, then?”

“Someone who is much better than you.”

Xe couldn't really argue with that, so xe just shrugged and picked up xir copy of _And Then There Were None_. "Door's over there if you want to leave."

Xe didn't bother looking up to see if she'd left or not.


End file.
